No Such Thing As Coincidence
by Liv Wilder
Summary: "She can't get the image out of her head: the way Castle had looked at her when she walked across the bullpen earlier tonight wearing that strapless black gown." Set during "The Limey."
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This story would not exist without the prompt offered to me by operaluvr. I don't normally write to prompts, but this idea felt so strong that it spoke to me. So, thank you for the inspiration. I hope you like how it turned out. This is chapter one of two. The prompt is at the end of the chapter._

* * *

No Such Thing As Coincidence

She can't get the image out of her head: the way Castle had looked at her when she walked across the bullpen earlier tonight wearing that strapless black gown. Beneath the intensity of his burning, almost possessive gaze, all the dark and dirty looks, the stony silences, and the coldly cryptic remarks seemed to coalesce into one thing and one thing only: Castle's performance over the past few weeks had been a big fat lie. After tonight, she'd almost stake her pension that he still cared about her. She just can't explain his behavior.

Even now, hours later, it still sent a shiver of hope rushing through her to recall the surprise and the longing in Castle's eyes.

She had turned her share of heads, both as a girl and an adult woman, but nothing had prepared her for the searing scrutiny her erstwhile partner had put her under tonight. She didn't think she'd ever be able to forget it and, in a strange way, nor did she want to. His face had betrayed a deep yearning mingled with regret, hurt and a sense of having missed a golden opportunity, all of these emotions having passed across his eyes in the space of seconds. And how it haunted her. In that moment she had wanted to banish everyone from the entire homicide floor so that they could be alone, and then she would have told him that if the look on his face matched the tenor of his heart then they most definitely weren't over. No chance had been missed; their timing was just a little off. They could never be over so long as he still looked at her like that.

But that little tableau was the stuff of fantasy, she knew, and so she had walked out the door on the arm of Colin Hunt, forced, as ever, to be responsible and to focus on the job. First, last, and always.

In any case, her dream scenario ignored the fact that Castle had made his position clear when he had shown up at her crime scene the other day with a blond flight attendant in tow, and then he had given this stranger the keys to his Ferrari no less. She would do well to take a hint before she embarrassed herself further. From a professional standpoint, she knew that looks could be deceiving. She thought she'd seen the face of innocence hundreds of times in the past, only to find out later that she had been looking into the eyes of a stone cold killer all along. Looks could be deceiving, but you couldn't argue with a blonde in a hot car after a spur of the moment trip to Vegas. Those were the facts she had to work with. All the wishing in the world wouldn't change them. Those were the cold, hard facts.

* * *

The dress didn't exactly fit inside a police locker. She hung the gown as best she could, feeling slightly guilty as she looked down at the puddle of fabric she was forced to leave to pool on top of her evening shoes now that she had changed back into her street clothes. Inspector Colin Hunt was waiting for her downstairs. They had closed their case, he had asked her if she wanted to grab a celebratory drink before his flight back to London, and since Castle had made it abundantly clear that he had moved on, she had neither the excuse nor the heart to refuse.

Hunt was leaning against the wall of the precinct lobby when she exited the elevator. His bag was on the floor by his feet, and he was furtively checking his watch.

"Did I keep you waiting?" Kate asked. She frowned at the screen on her phone, checking the time for herself because she had made sure to change as quickly as possible.

"Nope. Just wondering about the state of security at Newark."

Kate, fresh from the recent cold-shoulder treatment at the hands of her own partner, was feeling more thin-skinned than usual. She immediately began backtracking, offering Hunt a way out. "Look, if you're worried about missing your flight, we can take a rain check. No harm, no foul." she said, holding up her hands and preparing to walk away.

"We could. Or…" Hunt's eyes were twinkling mischief.

Kate felt herself smiling in response. " _Or?_ "

Colin Hunt smiled back, the effect both boyish and charming. " _Or_ you could give me a ride out to the airport, and we could get a drink in the bar once we get there?"

Kate paused just a beat too long, and Hunt jumped back in immediately. "Look, just say if you have other things to do. I know it's out of your way."

But what Kate was really thinking about was going back to her empty apartment to brood, knowing that Castle was most likely out on the town with his new squeeze, Jacinda.

"Honestly, Kate. A rain check is—"

"No! Let's do it," she said. She jerked her thumb towards the front of the building before she could change her mind. "My car's just outside. The rush should have passed, traffic should be light. Plenty of time to get a drink and still make your flight."

* * *

Given the late hour, the airport was quiet. It shone like an ice cube lit from inside when Kate dropped Colin Hunt by the curb to check-in, and then went to park her car.

As she walked towards the terminal building five minutes later, she had to talk herself into shaking off the gloomy mood that kept settling on her shoulders. They had cleared their case. It was a significant win, one that would garner her some international recognition and goodwill. Besides, she hadn't come all this way to be poor company, leaving the English police inspector with a bad impression of American women to share with his Met pals back home. He was a nice guy, good at his job, friendly and polite. After tonight she would never see him again. She could raise her game enough to have one last drink with a valuable, international colleague. She might even enjoy herself, Castle certainly seemed to be.

This sentiment, like revenge, tasted bleak and hollow.

With a smile fixed in place, she headed across the yards and yards of bland, industrial carpeting looking for the bank of British Airways' check-in desks. She spotted Colin Hunt's blond waves from a distance, standing head and shoulders above most other passengers in the thinned out, late-night crowd. But before she could get to him, a sight over at the United Airlines desk caught her eye. She slowed and did a double take, because there was Jacinda, Castle's new friend, checking in for a flight. And standing off to one side, waiting patiently for her, was Castle.

Kate battled her devastation to absorb the scene. Jacinda was wearing her uniform. So if she was checking in like a civilian instead of going straight to the crew room, she was either taking a positioning flight to pick up her next scheduled connection or she was flying home on a staff ticket. Either way, Castle and the stewardess had clearly progressed in their relationship if he was seeing her off at the airport already.

After taking in this painful tableau, Kate was seized by a panicky urge to turn around and walk away as quickly as possible, before either Castle or his girlfriend could spot her. But before she could make her escape, Colin Hunt waved to her over the tops of the heads of the people checking in around him, and she was forced to plaster on a smile and head over to the line he was standing in.

As she made her way in his direction, she thanked her lucky stars that he hadn't thought to wolf whistle to get her attention or call out her name, because it seemed as if she'd remained under the radar so far: Castle remained unaware of her presence. Small mercies at this point.

Kate fidgeted from foot to foot as she stood beside Colin Hunt waiting to reach the front of the line. He had checked-in by machine already, so his boarding pass was printed off. Now all he needed to do was drop his bag with the agent, have it weighed and tagged, and then they could head upstairs for that drink, somewhere out of sight.

"You seem a little jumpy tonight," Colin said, adding, "If you don't mind me saying."

Kate frowned a guilty frown and faked having no idea what he was talking about. It seemed evasion was a trait that belonged to her and her alone. If Colin Hunt elicited the exact same response from her, it meant that Castle had nothing to do with her reluctance to be honest in personal situations. Nope, avoidance was definitely all on her.

"Jumpy?" She shook her head. "No, I just don't like lines...or queues, I believe you guys call them," she said, a fact that was true but that also masked the reason for her skittishness tonight.

Finally, Hunt was called forward. Kate hovered by his elbow attempting to act casual while using his tall frame as a screen behind which she could hide while still observing her partner and his flight attendant friend.

She startled, giving credence to Hunt's jumpiness observation, when he turned to her and said, "Ready to go?" But there were no awkward questions or teasing remarks, he just laughed and guided her away from the desk.

He was so easy-going and non-judgmental that she almost wished he wasn't about to get on a flight and leave the country. Then she reminded herself that she had tried this kind of relationship before, with Josh, and that Castle had been right about the surgeon then as he would be about Colin Hunt now - it was easy to hide in a relationship with a man like that when little of real value was demanded by either side. Loving another person was hard, it required work, honesty, give and take. Intimate relationships functioned more or less the same way she and Castle always had as partners, forcing you to take the rough with the smooth if you wanted to make it last, accepting the hard parts if you wanted the fun. She wished she'd learned that lesson sooner. She could have saved them both a lot of pain.

* * *

As they headed towards the escalator, Kate tried to look around without being too obvious, because somewhere between the bag drop and their walk across the floor, she had lost sight of Castle and his friend.

"Looking for someone?" Colin Hunt asked, forcing her to lie once more.

His clever, knowing smile gave her pause for a second, until a trickle of passengers joined the escalator behind them forcing her to face forward and focus on the ascent to the level above.

Since Kate had no travel documents, she couldn't go through security. This restricted their choice of bars to the few on the landside of the terminal.

"There's a wine bar over there or a fake Irish pub down by area B," Kate said.

Hunt consulted his boarding pass. "My gate is in area C."

"Okay. Wine bar it is," Kate said.

As they turned to head to the left, there was a flash of blonde hair on the edge of her vision. Kate caught sight of Jacinda once more and her heart sank. She was standing talking to Castle by the entrance to the security line. Her wheeled cabin bag placed at her feet.

Colin Hunt seemed to sense her distraction because he slowed to a stop beside her to observe the scene that Kate was watching. Ever the well-mannered Englishman, he never said a word.

Kate felt as if she was witnessing an eighteen-wheeler slide, in slow motion, towards a minivan packed full of kids, and yet she couldn't tear herself away. Castle appeared to be dodging the kiss that was headed in his direction. He squeezed Jacinda's elbow, and at the last second he turned his cheek towards her so that her lips glanced off his jaw instead of landing on his mouth.

Blood pounded in Kate's ears and her face felt hot. For a second or two she thought she might be sick.

"Everything okay?" Hunt said, lightly touching her shoulder.

She came to her senses, dragging her gaze away from the rest of the farewell scene lest she witness anything more intimate pass between her partner and the flight attendant.

She pasted a smile on her face. "Uh...yeah. Everything's fine. Now, where's that drink you've been promising me?" she said with more enthusiasm than she felt.

* * *

When they got to _Vino Volo_ , Kate found them both a seat at the bar while Colin Hunt excused himself to visit the men's room.

Before he left to go to the bathroom, he said, "Could you make mine a glass of merlot, please?" and then he placed a couple of twenties on the bar by her right hand. He was gone before Kate could protest over the cash.

She studied the list of wines by the glass, and then she ordered herself the same as Hunt, a small for her and a large glass for her companion, and then she waited for him to return.

 _Vino Volo_ was typically noisy at this time of night. People were a few glasses into a flight of wine or enjoying some tapas while they killed time before departure, and with the constant bustle of travellers coming and going, dragging their cabin bags and more through the bar, whole minutes flew by.

Eventually, the barman set both glasses of wine down in front of her. The artificial light shone through the merlot making it sing. Kate couldn't help but think of her partner who would most certainly have ordered the same thing had he been here. But then she supposed that after tonight and the scene she'd witnessed with Jacinda, the days of going out for a celebratory drink after a case closure were gone for her and Rick. Though it saddened her to think like that, based on the way he'd been acting lately, she wouldn't be surprised if he never came back to the precinct at all, and that thought scared her even more.

Kate took a couple of sips of wine and then she checked the time on her father's watch. Hunt had been gone for over ten minutes. The bathrooms were just a short distance down the hallway. Unless he'd taken ill all of a sudden, he should really be back by now. Besides, his flight to Heathrow was due to begin boarding in less than half an hour.

With the constant stream of flight calls, gate changes, and the hubbub in the bar, Kate couldn't make out any specific detail in the public announcements. As a result, she missed out on one important message.

* * *

Colin Hunt's continued absence began to concern her. She put her glass down and reached into her pocket for her cell phone, turning away from the bar as she did so to look for her colleague even as she tried calling him.

When she turned around, she felt her jaw slowly drop while her heart rate rapidly climbed. Because standing not two feet away from her was Castle, and he looked utterly miserable.

"Beckett! What are you doing here?" he said.

He was the last person she wanted to see right now, and he was asking a question she really didn't want to have to answer. Because if tonight proved that he had moved on with Jacinda, admitting that she was here with Colin Hunt would look very much like she was moving on, too, and she really wasn't.

She frowned, trying to squeeze out an answer that would be both truthful and yet vague; some middle ground that wouldn't give her partner the wrong impression. Nothing came to mind, so she went on the offensive.

"I could ask you the same thing," she said.

Castle's gaze flitted to the matching glasses of merlot sitting atop the bar. He took in the empty stool next to her, secured with her leather jacket and a scarf. When he looked back at her face, he definitely wasn't smiling. "I just got a call over the P.A. system. Told me to come here," he said, casually scanning the room for a likely culprit before landing back on Kate.

Kate arched one eyebrow. "And you heard that all the way from Manhattan? _Impressive._ " She heard how withering and sarcastic she sounded, and she hated herself for it. Jealousy turned her into a horrible person.

Castle rolled his eyes and shook his head, and then he turned to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Kate said.

"Home. Look, this is clearly someone's idea of a joke."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, just look around you. Do you recognize anyone else in here?"

Kate already knew the answer, but she indulged her partner by glancing around the wine bar anyway. "No."

"Exactly. So like I said, I've been setup. Maybe you have, too," he added, gesturing to the wine glasses in front of her. "Unless _you're_ behind this?" When she shook her head, he said, "Yeah. Didn't think so. Either way, I'm heading home."

Kate had a pretty good idea what had happened. Colin Hunt was no fool, he'd been watching them circle one another for days now, and she'd left him alone at the precinct to go and change. It was possible he'd heard Castle on the phone making plans with Jacinda tonight and knew that they'd be here. Either way, since he'd failed to return to the bar, she guessed that he was the one who had decided to play matchmaker this evening. His plan was both risky for its logistics and yet simple in its intention. It would be a shame to see his kind gesture squandered.

" _Stay?_ " Kate called out before Castle could get out of range.

When he whipped around to face her, he was frowning. "What did you say?"

Kate indicated the wine. "Stay and have a drink with me? Please?"

"Why, Beckett? Tell me why?"

Kate shrugged, finding herself thrown off-balance by his frosty tone. "It'd be a shame to see a good merlot go to waste," she said somewhat glibly. "And maybe we could talk?" she quickly added when she saw his eyes harden.

The indecision on Castle's face was painful to watch. But Kate forced her tongue to be silent, and she bravely tipped up her chin to stop it from wobbling. The last person she would ever have imagined might reject her was clearly considering doing just that. Her face felt hot and her palms were sweaty, a sickening knot of panic tightened in her gut once more. But then gradually, she watched her partner's features soften just a hair, and she began to breathe more easily.

"Come on. One glass won't hurt," she said, bravely lifting her scarf from the bar stool beside her to allow Castle to sit down.

The writer sighed and seemed to deflate right in front of her. Resignation, hurt and a sense of defeat made him appear smaller than the strong man she was used to having by her side. She missed him - the kind, optimistic partner who had long ago pledged to have her back, the man who made her laugh even when things were at their darkest. This mess they were in was torture, worse than any dangerous scrape they'd tumbled into before, and it was clearly upsetting them both.

"One glass," Castle agreed without enthusiasm, cutting across her thoughts, before quietly adding the caveat, "and then I'm done."

So she had one glass of wine to figure out how to fix this. Challenge accepted, Kate thought to herself as she raised her glass and touched it to the rim of her partner's. "Cheers," they said in unison, one of the few things they had agreed upon of late.

Out on the concourse stood an Englishman, watching this scene unfold. As soon as he saw Castle take the open bar stool beside Kate, Colin Hunt hoisted his bag onto his shoulder, smiled to himself, and then he turned away, quickly heading towards the security line and Gate C47.

No one saw him leave.

* * *

 _Note: This is operaluvr's genius prompt verbatim: I've always wondered what would have happened if Beckett had accepted Hunt's invitation for a drink after their case had closed and they ran into Castle and Jacinda at the airport bar. Or maybe Beckett sitting with Hunt at the airport bar spotted Castle saying goodbye to Jacinda at the boarding gate of her next flight. Or Castle spotting Beckett with Hunt at the airport bar as he says goodbye to Jacinda at her boarding gate. Would either of them be jealous enough to find the courage to speak up and fight for the person they loved most in the world?_


	2. Chapter 2

No Such Thing As Coincidence

Chapter 2

As soon as Castle cleared his throat, Kate tentatively raised her head, swallowing as she braced for whatever was coming now.

"So, Beckett… You make a habit of hanging out in airport bars?" he said.

She was surprised when Castle asked this question not sixty seconds after he'd taken his first sip of wine. That he said anything at all was frankly astonishing after his recent determination to give her the silent treatment at any and all opportunity. But that the question itself had a dry, teasing edge to it was perhaps the most eyebrow-raising thing of all.

Well, if this was the line Castle was taking, Kate decided she could be equally droll. "As I said before, I could ask you the exact same thing," she said.

Castle nodded once. "Ah, but I didn't come here to hang out in the bar," he said, scoring his point with a jab of his finger.

The second these words were out of his mouth, Kate sensed her partner's regret for the door this casual remark had opened onto the real reason he was hanging around Newark's Liberty airport at gone ten-thirty at night. But she decided to let him off the hook, for now.

"Right. Of course not," she said quietly, diverting her attention back to her wine.

Castle turned to stare at her. Whatever his regret at giving her an opening to question him, he obviously wasn't expecting her to let the subject drop so easily. Her equanimity and lack of curiosity seemed to disappoint and confound him.

"What? That's it? You're not even going to ask what I'm doing here?" he said, leaving Kate to wonder where this sudden up and down, recklessly direct streak was coming from. He was behaving very much like a man with nothing left to lose, and years of experience working up close with criminals meant that Kate Beckett very much knew what that looked like.

"Because I don't need to ask why you're here," she said calmly.

Her answer obviously drew him up short. "You don't?"

"Nope." Kate let the word pop out of her mouth, but it sounded bitter and hard, and she hated that. "I saw you," she added more softly, toying with the stem of her glass.

Castle shook his head. "You saw—"

"At check-in. Oh, and then the big farewell scene at security. Very touching by the way."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh. Things must be going pretty well if…" She stopped herself just in time. She was starting to sound insanely jealous and totally pathetic for a woman of her age and achievements. She waved her remarks away with her hand, as if a gesture could erase them. "Look, forget I said anything. This wine's actually quite good," she added in a lighter, faux-carefree tone.

Now she definitely sounded unhinged.

Castle fully turned in his seat this time to stare at her. "Did you _really_ just compliment the wine?"

She knew what he meant, but she decided to brazen it out anyway. "Well, it _is_ pretty good for an airport wine bar," she said.

Castle rubbed his head. "Yeah, look, Beckett, can we just forget about the wine for a second?"

Kate sighed, and the sound came out more loudly and dramatically than she intended. "So…we're back to Beckett," she said.

Castle's knee jiggled nervously or impatiently, shaking his stool. "That's your name, last I heard."

She tapped her nails on the bar. "No, my name is Kate. We're not on the job right now, Castle. We're just two friends having a drink together."

"Hold up. You just called me Castle after tearing me a new one for calling you Beckett. How's that fair?"

"I didn't 'tear you a new one', and that's different. Castle is…it's our thing. Or at least it used to be," Kate said. God how she hated herself right now.

"Our _thing_?" Castle sounded amused and his lips twitched upwards, almost as if he might be laughing at her.

Kate shoved Castle's arm off the bar with her elbow. "Don't laugh at me. You know what I mean."

She'd pay for him to laugh at her right now, was the truth. But she was happy to play the clown if it meant that he would smile at her instead of scowl and grit his teeth.

"Actually, I don't know what you mean," Castle said. "Surnames…that's a cop thing. So if we're off-duty why wouldn't you call me—"

"Rick _, fine_. Are you sleeping with her?" The question was of her mouth before she could stop herself.

"Jesus, Beck— I mean, Kate. Keep your voice down," Castle hissed. "I think the guy out there in the cockpit actually heard you through the glass."

God, he was an idiot. Kate couldn't stop herself from smiling. "Don't be such a drama queen," she said, nudging him again as she rolled her eyes. The little alcohol they'd consumed seemed to be doing the trick, loosening things between them until…

A heavy silence settled over proceedings, halting any progress they might have made, and gradually, as with a self-fulfilling prophecy, their smiles began to fade. Desperate to prevent them from backsliding, Kate took a chance and opened her heart a little.

"This is good, having a drink with you…just…joking around. I've missed it," she said bravely.

"Yeah." Castle's response was more sober and less enthusiastic.

Reaching for its magical properties, Kate took another mouthful of merlot to fill the void and prevent herself from losing hope. But eventually, there was simply no avoiding the elephant in the room.

"So, you and Jacinda. Getting pretty serious?" she said, risking a peek at her partner's face.

Castle's brow wrinkled into a frown. "What makes you think that, and…where's your English Police Inspector, by the way? Isn't this his seat I'm taking?"

This time it was Kate's turn to be surprised. "Wait. You _knew_ Colin was here all along?" she said.

Castle nodded to himself and a twisted smile appeared on his lips. "Ah, Colin. Right, I see how it is. So not five minutes after your London Bobby arrives on the scene, he gets _'Colin'_ while I'm still stuck in the friend zone with _'Castle'_ four years down the line." He downed a rather large gulp of wine and then he turned to face her. His eyes were blazing. "Just tell me one thing, _Beckett,_ why was I never good enough for you?"

Kate felt something icy begin to slither through her body, despite the warmth of the airport bar. Like a slap, her partner's question left her shocked and painfully mystified. The expression on her face must have displayed her naked horror that he could ever imagine himself to be less than he actually was and less than Kate knew him to be – loyal, kind, stronger than most people gave him credit for, a talented writer, an astute observer of human nature, a great father and son, not to mention smart, funny and good looking. Sure he could be annoying, but mostly he was the complete package.

Of all the things he could have said and all the questions he could have asked, this was not one Kate was expecting. Not good enough? Why on earth would he ever think that? She decided to go for broke and just ask him for once.

She swivelled in her seat. "Not good enough? What are you _talking_ about? Where would you even _get_ that idea?" Kate said. Her own frustration rose to color her voice and she didn't mind one bit. She wanted him to know how vehemently she disagreed with this absurd notion he'd acquired from God knows where, one that so badly diminished his self-worth.

"We shouldn't do this here," Castle said, glancing at the barman, who in truth was far too busy serving drinks to bother with their private conversation.

Kate dug in stubbornly. "Well, here is where we are. So we're just gonna have to. We've had enough ridiculous interruptions over the years, Castle. This conversation is long overdue."

He looked over his shoulder for a second, scanning the bar and the corridor outside. "Speaking of interruptions, where is the charming Inspector Hunt? Not gonna show up wearing nothing but a towel to surprise us, is he? Because I'd like to prepare myself this time if that's the case."

Kate smiled. She couldn't help herself.

"You find this funny?" Castle said.

"Oh, come on. Where's that famous sense of humor gone?" she said.

"Kate, don't baby me, okay? I'm not in the mood."

"What's wrong? Sad because your girlfriend had to leave?" she said, taunting him because the whole idea of Jacinda pained her like a pushpin in her shoe.

"She's not my girlfriend."

Kate arched an eyebrow. "Looked pretty cozy to me. I mean, seeing her off at the airport already. That's a pretty big step."

"She had my car. I offered her a ride. What you saw was— What does it matter to you anyway? You're here with _Colin._ So I could say the exact same thing."

"Have you not figured it out yet?" Kate said.

With considerable force, Castle ripped a cocktail napkin in two. "Figured out what?"

"Hunt asked me to drive him here, he ordered a glass of merlot, he left these twenties on the bar, and then he disappeared and never came back," she said.

"So…"

Kate let her fist fall until it struck the bar. "Castle, Hunt set us up."

"Set us up for what?" he said.

Unsure whether he was being obtuse on purpose, she let go a frustrated growl. "He was matchmaking. He must have heard that you were taking Jacinda to the airport, and so he engineered for me to be here, too."

"You're saying he set this whole thing up?"

Kate rolled her eyes and then took a cleansing breath. "Isn't that what I just said?"

"Well, yeah, but…" Castle frowned. "Why would he do that?"

"I don't know." She sounded only half-convincing.

Castle stared at her pointedly, his eyes narrowed to slits. "Then I guess I don't either."

Kate took a deep breath. She couldn't keep hiding from the truth if she really wanted to make things right between them. "Well, I don't know for sure…but I have a pretty good idea," she said.

"Care to share with the class?"

"Castle, this isn't a joke anymore. I'm through dancing around this…this thing between us. Whatever it is."

"You think _I'm_ joking?" he said, so serious all of a sudden that she almost didn't recognize him.

"No. But…I have been wondering what you're doing with some random flight attendant you only just met."

"That's not fair. You don't get to do that," Castle said.

His flash of anger surprised her. "Do what exactly?" she said.

"Blame me for how this turned out."

"I'm not blaming you. I want to fix it. And whatever Colin Hunt saw over the last few days, he clearly wanted to help fix it, too."

Castle closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Kate, why are we fighting over two random strangers? Are you going to see Hunt again?"

" _No!_ I already told you. He conned me into bringing him here so that you and I could meet and talk. What about Jacinda? Got any big plans?"

Slowly, he shook his head. "That was over before it even got started. She's a nice enough woman, a little on the 'flighty' side, if you'll pardon the pun." Kate rolled her eyes at Castle's bad joke. "But…no. I needed a distraction and I thought that was the answer."

"You don't have to explain," she said, losing her nerve the closer they got to the truth.

"Isn't that the point to all of this – to explain?" Castle said.

"I…I didn't mean— I was just trying to say that you don't have to justify your life to me, Rick. I haven't exactly earned that right," she added quietly.

"Funny, until recently I thought you had. I thought we both had," he said.

Kate looked down at her glass rather sadly. "Funny, so did I," she said, removing a smudge of lipstick from the rim with her thumb.

"Glad we still agree on something," he said, though his tone withered Kate's hope even further.

* * *

A long moment passed in miserable silence before Kate was able to summon a new burst of courage. "Castle, where did we go wrong? I thought—" But then she saw his face, so closed off, and she stopped herself, her brow knit into a tight frown. "No. Forget it," she said under her breath.

But Castle thumped his fist on the bar and his glass vibrated. The woman next to them turned to stare, but the writer remained oblivious. "Please, stop doing that. Don't start what sounded like a pretty important thought and then decide to censor it before you even tell me what it is. Half the time I feel like I need to be a mind reader with you, and if that's the case then I'm hopelessly out of my depth," he said.

Kate closed her eyes and squeezed them tightly shut. "This all seems hopeless. You're so mad at me and I don't want to make a fool of myself. You've clearly moved on…or at least you've started to. I should just get out of your way and—"

"Get out of my way? Are you hearing yourself?" Castle said, barely managing to keep his anger in check.

Kate rolled her eyes. "I just said it…out loud. Of course I can hear myself."

"You want to know why things didn't work out with Jacinda?" he said.

Kate opened her mouth to protest, to cut in and tell Castle that he should save his breath because she didn't want to hear it. She really, really didn't. But he'd had enough, and now he _was_ that man with nothing to lose.

"Too bad," he said off the look on her face, "because your buddy Colin got me here under false pretenses. And you were party to that, so you're going to hear it whether you're ready to or not. Jacinda was a nice girl, Beckett, pretty, fun—"

Kate was desperate to cover her ears. "Yeah, you said that already. Can we just—"

"Beckett, please? Let me do this." His look silenced her. "She was a good person. Just like Gina and Ellie Monroe, Natalie Rhodes and even dear, sweet Kyra were all wonderful women in their own right."

"You forgot Serena Kaye and Sophia Turner," Kate said through gritted teeth, her jealousy on full, ugly display for once.

But Castle ignored her interruption. "Trouble is," he said, "none of them imprinted themselves on my soul the way that you have, Kate. None of them. Like it or not, you've ruined me for other relationships. And I know that sounds overly dramatic, but it's actually true. Because I've tried turning off my feelings for you. I really have. And I know that you care about me, just not in the same way that I care for you, and so—"

Kate held up her hand to stop him. "Wait…where exactly did you get that idea?" she said.

Castle reached out and touched Kate's wrist. After everything, his touch was so gentle that she felt tears prick her eyes. He looked sad but kind. "Hey, it's okay. Well, not exactly okay. What I mean is, there's no law against not loving somebody back. I just wish you'd been honest with me a long time ago."

"I wish I'd be honest, too," she said, smiling weakly as she slipped her arm out of his light grasp to reach for his hand.

Castle cleared his throat. "If I wasn't driving, I'd suggest we blow the rest of Colin's forty bucks on another glass of wine."

"To celebrate?" Kate said.

Castle shook his head. He seemed puzzled. "More like drown my sorrows."

He was right: she had been expecting him to read her mind. She tugged on his hand to get his attention. "Rick, look at me. Please?"

But he was already fishing for his wallet as he began to stand. "Beckett, I should go."

He sounded so sad and exhausted that she almost let him leave. Only she knew that might truly be the end for them if she let him walk out of there without the truth, and she so badly wanted tonight to be the beginning not the end.

Kate cleared her throat. "I wish I'd be brave enough and smart enough and honest enough to tell you that at some point in the last four years, I don't remember exactly to the second, but you imprinted yourself on my soul, too. Probably about the same time I fell in love with you." Castle had frozen in place, and now he was staring at her intently. "So if you're sunk for other people, Rick, then I'm sunk, too."

Without saying another word, Castle retook his seat beside her at the bar, and then he ordered them both a club soda. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, until the barman delivered their drinks, and then Castle turned to Kate and clinked his glass against hers as if nothing major had just happened between them. She still couldn't read the expression on his face, but that he was still there, sitting beside her, was enough for the moment. She would not let tonight slip through her fingers, not after everything they'd had to battle through to confess their true feelings to one another.

* * *

"You realize we're sitting in an airport bar pretty late at night and neither one of us is actually flying anywhere," Castle said at length. "That's kind of crazy, don't you think?"

Kate smiled. "Definitely something to tell the grandkids," she said without thinking.

They both froze, and then slowly, slowly, they turned to look at one another.

"Sounds like that would make one helluva story," Castle said.

Kate felt herself blushing, but her blush hid the visceral thrill she felt at the thought of the future she'd inadvertently sketched for them. "Yeah. I really like the idea of that, too," she said somewhat shyly.

She toyed with her glass and took another drink before summoning the courage to clarify things once and for all.

"Am I— Castle, tell me we're not too late to make this right?" she said for the avoidance of any more doubt.

He swiveled to face her, brushing her thigh with his knee as he did so. "You really meant it when you said that you'd fallen in love with me?"

Kate nodded rapidly.

"And that still holds true?" he said.

"Of course it does. What about you? Graveside confessions still hold water when the recipient of that confession is alive and kicking?"

Castle covered his eyes with his hand and shook his head at her. "That was _the_ most gruesome way to ask if I still love you, you know that? We _really_ need to work on your romantic syntax," he said.

Kate laid her hand on his knee, allowing her fingers to skirt lightly over the fabric that was stretched taut over his muscles. "Castle, take me home?" she said earnestly. "Please? We can work on my syntax all night long if you want."

Castle laughed out loud, and the barman gave him a wink. He looked beyond delighted. "What about your car?" he said.

Kate shrugged. "I'll text Espo. He owes me a favor."

"Dare I ask?" Castle said.

"Mmm," she hummed seductively and then smiled. "Show me your _syntax_ , and I'll tell you everything," she said, joining in when Castle started to laugh again.

* * *

They paid the check with Colin Hunt's generous gift, and then they rode the escalator down to the lower floor together. When they reached the curb outside and had to wait for the crossing guard, Castle slipped his arm around Kate's shoulder. He drew her into his side and leaned closer still to press a kiss to her hairline.

"I feel so sick to think that I could have lost you," he said quietly, tightening his grip on her arm while he nudged her ear with his nose and then kissed her temple again.

Kate waited until they had crossed to the other side before she drew him into the elevator lobby of the parking structure, and then she guided them over to a wall out of sight.

She cupped his face in her hands, standing as close as she dared in public. "What's done is done. I know we both have regrets. I've made so many mistakes, and you'll never know how sorry I am, Castle. But tonight and tomorrow and all the days after that, they're what matter now," she said.

She watched her partner's eyes drift closed after he saw her gaze drop to focus on his mouth, and then he waited to welcome her kiss when she finally gave herself to him.

"Let's take your car home," he said. "Whatever you have on Espo, use it. He can pick mine up tomorrow and take it straight to be detailed. Inside and out."

Baffled, Kate shrugged, but she didn't argue with Castle's plan. She just wanted to be home alone with him, how they got there didn't matter.

He wrapped his arm around her again and let her lead them down the aisle until they reached her parking spot.

"Did I mention that you should never date a flight attendant unless you like perfume by the gallon drum?" he said, and finally his need to have his car valeted made sense.

Kate laughed as she unlocked the car. "Let's check dating flight attendants off the bucket list, okay? And promise never to mention her again."

Castle threw her a cheeky salute before they climbed inside. "Roger that!" he said.

As soon as she got behind the wheel, Kate's cell phone chirped with an incoming text message. "Sorry, I'd better check on this," she said, swiping to unlock the screen.

' _Apologies for the deception tonight, Detective. My flight is about to take off. I just wanted to say, I hope everything works out for the best. You and Castle make a great team. In our line of work, that's rare in my experience. If you're ever in London, on honeymoon perhaps, ;) look me up. All the best, Colin Hunt.'_

Kate was smiling and maybe blushing a little when she finished reading the short message.

"Problem?" Castle said.

Kate chewed her lip for a second and then she handed him her phone. "In the interest of openness going forward," she said.

Castle read the message for himself, and by the end, he, too, was smiling. "Those Brits can be so forward."

"Yeah, real strange sense of humor, too," Kate said, fighting the same crazy-happy smile that Castle had on his face.

He cleared his throat. "London's supposed to be lovely in the spring," he said, taking her hand and laying it on his thigh so that he could play with her fingers while they talked. Touching her felt like the ultimate in luxury, now that the wall between them had been swept away for good.

"Ever been?" she said.

Castle shook his head. "London? No, but I'm pretty sure it's on my bucket list. Somewhere above flight attendant."

Playfully, Kate nudged him with her shoulder, and then she leaned closer so that she could kiss him again. Light and exploratory, his mouth turned her vision into a twinkling shower of sparks. Kissing him felt like a gateway drug to something more. Yeah, more of the _'hard'_ stuff, her reptilian brain supplied.

"Mmm," she hummed when she finally, reluctantly pulled away from him, though she left her hand on the back of his neck.

Castle reached out to stroke her cheek. He couldn't take his eyes off her. "Ready to go home?"

"Your place or mine?" Kate said.

"I thought you'd never ask," he replied, before releasing her seat belt and drawing her in for another long-awaited kiss.

 _The End_

* * *

 _A/N: I want to thank operaluvr once again for such a great prompt. I really enjoyed writing this one. Thank you to everyone who left a review, too. There would be no stories without readers, just a howl into the darkness._


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